Police detained 20 men on Sunday in central India's Madhya Pradesh state after a Swiss woman on a cycling trip was gang-raped.

No arrests have been made so far but
police were questioning the men in connection with the rape and assault on the
woman and her husband in Datia district of the state, said senior police
officer D.K. Arya.

He said the couple told police the
woman had been raped by seven or eight men, but that it was dark and they could
not be sure of the exact number.

As a first step, police have
registered a case of rape against seven unidentified men and were searching nearby
villages, he said.

The attack comes three months after
the fatal gang-rape of a woman aboard a New Delhi bus outraged Indians and
spurred the government to pass laws to protect women.

The couple were on a three-month
holiday in India. They had visited the temple town of Orchha and were planning
to cycle to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal, the monument to love, nearly 130 miles
(210 kms) away.

They set out from Orchha on Friday
and had pitched their tent in a forest near Jatia village when they were
attacked by a group of men armed with wooden sticks.

The men beat up the husband, tied
him to a tree and then raped the woman, police said.

The Swiss ambassador in India, Linus
von Castelmur, has spoken to the couple and has demanded a swift probe of the
incident.

Mr von Castelmur said he was
"most distressed" by the incident and had assured the couple of all
help and support.

"Their health and treatment is
the priority of the moment," the embassy said in a statement.

The embassy said it was in touch
with local authorities in Madhya Pradesh and has urged a "swift
investigation and for justice to be done."